England’s starting scrum-half Ben Youngs has been ruled out the remainder of the Six Nations with a knee injury.
The Leicester Tigers’ number 9’s campaign lasted only eight minutes before a pile of bodies rolled over onto his leg, resulting in a blood-curdling scream from Youngs.
The 28-year-old was driven off the pitch on the cart, and watching England fans must have feared the worst.
Preliminary scans have revealed a rupture of the medial collateral ligament in the left knee, although additional scans are scheduled for later this week.
The lay-off is expected to cost Youngs around four months of rugby, and England must now turn to alternative options at scrum-half.
Danny Care looks poised to start at number nine for the rest of the tournament, and veteran Richard Wigglesworth from Saracens has been added to the squad by Eddie Jones to fill in late in games.
Wigglesworth has 27 England caps, but hasn’t appeared for his country since 2015.
Other squad inclusions are Wasps number eight Nathan Hughes, and Exeter prop Luke Cowan-Dickie.
England powered on without Youngs in Rome to a 46-15 victory, and will be eagerly eyeing up a chance to run out against some more evenly matched opposition in Wales this Saturday.
